Digest: Local News in Brief

Driver Dies as Passenger Train Strikes Truck Near Moorpark

An Amtrak passenger train struck a flatbed truck just west of Moorpark Monday evening, killing the driver of the truck and injuring the train's engineer, authorities said.

There were several dozen passengers on the train but none were injured, said Officer Linda Baer of the California Highway Patrol.

The train, en route from the San Francisco Bay area to Los Angeles, smashed into the truck at 5:42 p.m. at a crossing on Los Angeles Avenue between Balcom Canyon and Grimes Canyon roads in an unincorporated area of Ventura County, said Shonna Matthews, county Fire Department dispatcher.

The truck driver, whose name was withheld until his family could be notified, died at the scene, Matthews said. The train's engineer, who also was not identified, was taken to Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo where he was in stable condition with neck injuries and cuts, a hospital spokeswoman said.

It was not immediately known why the truck was on the track, Baer said.

The train, which did not derail, was halted for about two hours before it continued on to Los Angeles, Matthews said.